The captured farm data can help farmers make better informed management decisions.

Precision ag technology creates monster-sized data, which can include field-specific information on planting, preseason and in-season crop-input choices and investment, management strategies and harvesting practices, according to Southwest Farm Press.

Farmers can receive valuable “field prescriptions” so they can apply inputs for optimal yields on a per-field basis. The collected data can be combined and analyzed with data from other farmers in the region, state, country or globally and evaluated to show trends, predict market futures or the adoption of new crop technology.

To ensure farmers’ privacy is protected, a coalition of major farm organizations, including American Farm Bureau Federation, and agriculture technology providers have reached an agreement on ag data privacy and security principles.